Emergency Mobile Medical Coordinator (m/f/x) – MSF Belgium

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides assistance in more than 60 countries to populations in distress, to victims of natural or manmade disasters and to victims of armed conflicts, without discrimination and irrespective of origin, religion, creed or political affiliation.

Emergency Mobile Medical Coordinator (m/f/x) – MSF Belgium

CONTEXT

The Emergency pool Unit (E-unit) is part of the Operations Department of MSF OCB (Operational Center Brussels). Its primary function is to intervene with medical activities directly and quickly in crisis situations like conflicts, epidemics, outbreaks and natural disasters while guaranteeing the quality of interventions. As such, the E-Unit is in charge – anywhere, anytime – of monitoring and identifying crises that may arise.

The Emergency Pool consists of 1 Emergency Pool Coordinator and 3 Emergency Coordinators based in Brussels with technical referent officers in Supply, Logistics, HR and Finance.

It also includes an Emergency Mobile Team of several Emergency mobile Coordinators (Head of Mission), Project Coordinators, Medical Coordinators and Project Medical Referents, who are responsible for the implementation and coordination of emergency response activities in the field.

MSF is currently looking for Emergency Mobile Medical Coordinators as part of the emergency team intervening in the different missions of the Emergency Unit with the objective to respond to humanitarian and medical emergencies.

The Emergency Mobile Medical Coordinators as part of the Emergency Team can be deployed in the field for up to 80% of the work time – either in an emergency or a roving capacity. Team members of the Emergency Team may be deployed to start a new intervention in a crisis setting or to support existing MSF country missions in their emergency response or preparedness activities.

The Emergency Mobile Medical Coordinators have the critical responsibility to assess, design and implement the response to meet the immediate health-related needs of populations in precarious situations. They may be also requested to provide specific support or training for the teams in place. The MSF missions are diverse in terms of contexts as well as types of responsibilities.

The Emergency Mobile Medical Coordinator is rapidly deployed in the field for missions up to three months. 80% or more of the year would be based in the field and Non-field-based activities, such as briefing/debriefing/trainings/report writing/support on specific files, tools, etc can be up to 20% from home (or eventually during HQ visits).

PLACE WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION:

During emergency assignments the Emergency Mobile Medical Coordinator reports directly to the responsible mobile Emergency Coordinator in the field and the Emergency Coordinator in Brussels. Under specific circumstances the Emergency Medical Coordinator might report to the respective Country Coordination Management Team (CMT) at capital level. At times the Emergency Medical Coordinator directly reports to Emergency Pool Coordinator in Brussels.

MAIN OBJECTIVE

The main objective of the Emergency Mobile Medical Coordinator is together with the Emergency Coordinator to identify emergencies, prepare assessments and launch emergency interventions. Being responsible for the planning and coordination of all medical activities and resources in the mission, according to MSF’s charter, policies, and ethical principles with consideration of international and national laws, in order to ensure the delivery of quality medical care for patients and their communities as well as to improve the health condition and humanitarian living conditions of the target population.

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As part of the Emergency Mobile Team, the Emergency Mobile Medical Coordinator’s main responsibilities are to:

• Ensure high quality and timely integrated health assessments of the medical needs during exploratory and emergency missions
• Design medical emergency responses and strategies and lead the implementation of the health emergency interventions
• Identify health staffing needs for emergency interventions and ensure rapid recruitment, induction and training of new medical staff
• Ensure consistent monitoring and analysis of results to enhance the effectiveness and quality of medical emergency interventions
• Provide reports on the mission’s evolution from the medical perspective, as required, and is responsible for the Medical Library of the Mission. Inform the medical field staff of all materials available, and keep all medical documents updated in the database
• Represent MSFat local medical authorities and keeping regular contact with other counterparts in the mission (NGOs, local organizations, donors, authorities) in order to broaden the medical-humanitarian situation analysis, strengthening the impact of the medical intervention and supporting advocacy actions to raise humanitarian awareness
• Close emergency interventions including the handover of medical activities to other actors and ensure the proper archiving of medical files at the end of an intervention

REQUIREMENTS

Education

• Essential: degree in medicine or other paramedical studies
• A degree in tropical medicine or at least one year of experience working in a tropical context is an important asset
• Strong technical skills related to primary health care, maternal and child health, reproductive health, communicable diseases, vaccination, malnutrition, emergency preparedness and response

Experience

• Minimum of 3 years of MSF (or other NGOs) field experience in developing countries
• Minimum of 1-year MSF (or other NGOs) field experience as a project medical referent and/or medical coordinator in emergency interventions

Competencies

• Strategic vison
• Dynamism, rigor and reactivity
• Resistance to stress, ability to adapt to different contexts
• Leadership (able to set priorities, make choices and assume decisions)
• Diplomatic and negotiation skills (intra and extra MSF)
• Strong networking skills
• Experience in supervising, capacity building, coaching and training being a strong asset
• Strong communication skills – both written and oral
• Flexibility – Autonomy

Languages

• English is essential
• French and/or Arabic is an asset

CONDITIONS

• Expected starting date: As soon as possible
• Location: Mainly carried out in the field (all contexts) – More than 80% in the field; Based in the country of residence while not in the field
• Contract type: Fixed term contract
• Contract duration: 12 months – Full time
• Salary as per MSF Field salary grid
• The contractual terms, conditions and salary will be established according to the official residence of the selected candidates and in respect of MSF standard function and salary grids
• Medical Insurance 100% covered as per international package – 45 paid leaves – Accomplishment bonus of 1.5 month salary upon completion of 12-month contract
• No family position
• Prioritization for trainings in MSF (external trainings also considered)
• A dynamic and stimulating work environment alongside multicultural colleagues
• Adhere to the MSF principles and to our managerial values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust and Empowerment
• Adhere to the MSF Behavioral Commitments